Mozzarella – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Rigatoni Pie

Don’t worry… You’re not putting pasta in a pie crust with this pie. This is a fun variation on your basic pasta, sauce and cheese dish.

You start off by boiling a pound of rigatoni pasta until it is lightly less than al dente – the minutes truly depend on the brand of pasta you buy. Once the pasta is ready, drain it and spread it on a baking sheet and toss with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Next, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a 9-inch springform pan in the center. Grease the pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and began standing the rigatoni on their ends in the pan until the entire pan is filled.

Pour your favorite pasta sauce over the noodles and then sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese over the sauce.

Tent the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 375 F oven. Uncover the pan and bake for about another 30 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.

Let the pasta cool for 10 minutes and then carefully remove the ring from the pan, cut the pie and serve.

Rigatoni Pie

Servings: 8
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Ingredients:

4 cups of marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)

1 pound rigatoni

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt

1 pound mozzarella cheese, grated

2/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until is slightly less than al dente. Drain the pasta, spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with a tablespoon of olive oil.

Stand the rigatoni on their ends in the prepared springform pan. Pour the sauce over the noodles and spread with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with cheeses.

Tent the pan with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, uncover and bake until the cheese us bubbly and golden brown, about an additional 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and then remove the ring from the pan.

Recipe from Food Network

Deep-Dish Margherita Pizza

While I am partial to a thin and crispy crust when it comes to my pizza, once in a blue moon I want something with a little more bite to it, especially when it sounds super simple to make. A while back I came across a recipe for a deep-dish pepperoni pizza using a cake pan, and with these hot and humid days upon us the last thing I really want to do is make something complicated for dinner so this was right up my alley. I do my best to avoid using my oven when it’s too hot, but, this pizza was an exception since the total oven time was less than twenty-five minutes and prep time was just under ten minutes since I opted to make a Deep-Dish Margherita instead.

To make things even easier for myself I used store-bought refrigerated pizza dough that I brought to room temperature prior to using. While the dough was “warming” I made the pizza sauce by combining whole peeled tomatoes (crushed by hand), olive oil, grated garlic, crushed red pepper and salt. I set this aside so the flavors could marinate and then thinly sliced some fresh mozzarella. Meanwhile, I preheated my oven to 475 F with an inverted cookie sheet on the bottom shelf and brushed the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan with olive oil.

Once the dough was ready I stretched it into the cake pan, placed it on top of the inverted cookie sheet and baked it in the oven for about 10 minutes, until it was puffy and just starting to brown. After removing it from the oven I topped it with the sauce leaving about a 1/2 inch border. I then topped it with the fresh mozzarella and placed it back in the oven – on top of the cookie sheet again – and baked it for another 10 minutes. When I removed it from the oven I was a little scared that something had gone wrong. My pizza was completely puffed up, but, I allowed it to sit for a few minutes and thankfully it deflated and looked “normal.”

And I’ll admit it’s not the best looking pizza, but, it was delicious! This may be my go to pizza sauce next time I make pizza!

Deep-Dish Margherita Pizza

Servings: 8 slices
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Ingredients:

1 pound refrigerate pizza dough, at room temperature

1 14.5 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus an additional 2 tablespoons to brush the pan

2 garlic cloves, grated

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon salt

4 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Directions:

On the bottom oven rack place an inverted cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 475 F. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Press the dough into the pan and bake for 10 minutes, until puffy and lightly golden.

Combine the tomatoes, remaining olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper and salt in a large bowl and allow the flavors to marinate for a few minutes.

After removing the pizza crust from the oven, top with the sauce*, leaving a 1/2 inch border, and top with the fresh mozzarella. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling.

Let the pizza cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

*You will have extra sauce.

Modified from here and here

Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed With Caprese Salad

While browsing through my Instagram feed last week I came across a picture that made me stop and double-tap immediately! If you’re on Instagram and you’re not following Foodgawker you should definitely go check them out and start following them. They post amazing pictures of food that you can get the recipes to by visiting their website. And most of the recipes are ones that you can easily make in your home kitchen – which we can all agree is very important! If you love quick recipes, mushrooms, tomatoes and mozzarella this is the recipe for you! And if mushrooms are not your thing – I think it’s something that people either love or hate – but if you love Caprese salad, you may want to think about roasting the mozzarella and tomatoes next time you make it – it really enhances the flavors.

I began by cleaning out the gills of the mushrooms and wiping them with a damp paper towel. To remove the gills I used a small spoon to scoop them out. Now, I know there are some people who opt not to clean out the gills, and I did a little research (a quick Google search) as to which is the proper way to eat Portobello’s and it really comes down to personal preference. For me, I prefer them gone because sand could be trapped within the gills and the sand is not going to come out when you cook them and I just think they look “cleaner” when the gills are gone.

Next, I melted butter with two cloves of crushed garlic in the microwave and brushed the garlic butter on the bottom of each of the mushrooms.

Once the mushrooms were prepped I sliced grape tomatoes and fresh mozzarella into thin slices and placed them inside of the mushrooms.

With the broil set to high I placed the mushrooms in the oven and broiled them for about ten minutes, until the cheese was melted and beginning to brown.

While the mushrooms were in the oven I made a balsamic glaze to drizzle over them. I combined balsamic vinegar and brown sugar in a small saucepan and brought it to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer until it was reduced by half. Once the mushrooms were done I took them out of the oven and transferred them to a platter and top them with torn basil leaves and the balsamic glaze.

These mushrooms were absolutely delicious! Caprese Salad is delicious on its own, but once you roast the tomatoes and bring out some of their sweetness and the mozzarella is melted it’s just a whole other level of delectableness. And the heartiness of the mushroom to go along with it makes this a great main dish with other vegetable or as a quick side.

Caprese Stuffed Garlic Butter Portobellos

Ingredients:

Garlic Butter:

1 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Mushrooms:

6 large Portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, wiped clean with a damp paper towel

1 cup grape tomatoes, each tomato sliced into thirds

Fresh mozzarella*, thinly sliced

Fresh basil, torn into pieces

Balsamic Glaze**:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tsps. brown sugar

*I used about half of a 12oz. pre-sliced log, cutting each piece into strips

**You could also use store bought

Directions:

1. Arrange oven rack to middle of oven and preheat the oven to broil on the high setting.

2. Combine the garlic and butter and melt the butter in the microwave or in small saucepan on medium heat until the garlic becomes fragrant. Brush the bottoms of the mushrooms and place them, buttered side down, on a rimmed cookie sheet.

3. Fill each mushroom with tomatoes and mozzarella and place them in the oven, broiling them until the cheese has melted and begun to brown (about 8 – 10 minutes.)

4. Transfer the mushrooms to a serving dish and top with the basil and drizzle with the balsamic glaze. Sprinkle with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

To make the Balsamic Glaze:

Combine the sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan over high heat to bring to a boil. Reduce the heat allowing the mixture to simmer until the mixture has thickened and reduced to a glaze, 5 – 8 minutes.